Tag Archives: harry ironside

Can a Christian lost his/her salvation? I’ve had a lot of questions about this topic lately, so here goes. I’m reposting these on my Facebook Author page too, and I’d love for you to go there and click the like button. Thanks.

Sooner or later, every believer in Jesus Christ must come to grips with one all important question: Who will bear the burden of my eternal life? Or we might ask, On whose shoulders will rest the weight of bringing me to God and ultimately getting me into heaven?

Scripture supplies a most magnificent answer: Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. (Psalms 55:22, NKJV).

In its short form, Eternal Security means “once saved, always saved.” It means that you cannot lose your salvation; even if you tried. What a wonderful confidence we can have! The biggest question of life — Where will I spend eternity? — has been answered once for all.

Definition: Eternal Security means that if you are truly saved, you can never be unsaved, not even for a moment. God will not permit it. He has set your foundation upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and since God will not permit Christ to be shaken, he will not permit you to be shaken either.

Many believers, even godly Christians and scholarly Christians, do not believe in eternal security. They admit into their concept of salvation certain conditions under which you might lose it. I would ask, What good is a salvation that is not really a salvation? But we won’t get into all the problems with the other position… (maybe later? depends)

Here are some definitions of eternal security from some Bible teachers.

Charles C. Ryrie. Eternal Security: The work of God which guarantees that the gift of God (salvation), once received, is possessed forever and cannot be lost.

Harry Ironside [for many years pastor at Moody Church]. When we speak of the eternal security of the believer, what do we mean? We mean that once a poor sinner has been regenerated by the Word and the Spirit of God, once he has received a new life and a new nature and has been made partaker of the divine nature, once he has been justified from every charge before the throne of God, it is absolutely impossible that that man should ever again be a lost soul.

Augustus Hodge. They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectively called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. [a definition of perserverance]

R.T. Kendall [who succeeded Martyn Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel, London]. We are not saying once saved, always obedient. We are not saying once saved, always perfect. We are not saying once saved always godly. It is once saved, always saved.

These are excellent definitions for Eternal Security. I am convinced that Eternal Security is best understood from the divine perspective. In other words, this is far more something about God and what he does than it is about us and what we have. Therefore based on Psalm 55:2 and many other Scriptures, here is my simple definition of Eternal Security.

ETERNAL SECURITY MEANS that God himself bears all the burden for me to be secure forever.